It's been
a deadly summer in Rockford.
67th district state representative Chuck Jefferson is fed up with the violence.

"I
think it's terrible," he said.

So Jefferson took action supporting two anti-gang house
bills that are now law. The first
creates a gang crime witness protection program. It assists victims and
witnesses who are helping prosecute perpetrators of gang crime. The fund will
help with relocation and living costs.

The
second will require courts and law enforcement to report to public school principals
when a student is detained for illegal gang activity. The law's goal is to monitor
gang related crime.

"I
think that it's going to help them tremendously. It's going to give them a lot
of leverage that they didn't have before," explained Jefferson.

When
asked about how the new legislation will help Rockford Public Schools RPS gave
Eyewitness News this statement saying "gang violence isn't an issue in Rockford
Public Schools."

But
they did say RPS will implement any new laws to better protect students.

Looking
to the future Jefferson hopes the legislation
supports programs already in place and builds more partnerships. "On a
weekly daily basis someone else has been murdered and we have to make sure that
we do everything we can to try and stop the violence," he said.